Mean What You Sing

Posted by Troy Friesen

Oct 14, 2009

I appreciated this email I received from a friend with the following devotion from Chuck Swindoll relating to singing with integrity. You can link to this article and others on the Insight for Living website by clicking on this posts title.

Mean What You Sing
by Charles R. Swindoll

Revelation 5:9-10

Nothing touches the human heart deeper than music. This is never more true than when a group of Christians sings heartily unto their Lord. Many a cold heart on skid row has melted as the strains of some old hymn lingered in steamy streets and sleazy alleys surrounding a gospel mission. When congregations sing the praises of the King, even the demonic hosts stand at attention. "The powers of darkness fear when this sweet chant they hear, May Jesus Christ be praised!"

Such moving melodies hold out a warm welcome to strangers, comfort to the broken, refreshment to the lonely, and affirmation to the discouraged. Great music from God's people instructs and reproves, blesses and relieves.

Charles Wesley, perhaps the most prolific hymnist of all time, realized the value of corporate singing as he wrote, "O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise." There is nothing to compare to that sound. Nothing.

But have you noticed the fly in our melodic ointment? It is not a lack of beauty or harmony, nor is it insufficient volume or intensity. It is, plain and simple, the presence of words with an absence of meaning. We sing well, but we fail to heed the message hidden behind the bars.

Stop and think. There's a line in "Take My Life and Let It Be" that always makes me pause as the words stick in my throat: "Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold." Imagine! Not even "a mite"! We all sing that with such ease, yet I have known few who wouldn't withhold something. Including me.

Last Sunday after the service our congregation sang "I Give All My Witness to You" . . . and then we left. We all got into our cars, drove away, and most of us have not seen one another since. What's been happening? Has He had our witness? Have the days that passed been that much different than two weeks earlier? A month? Those thoughts haunt me.

Think of each song or hymn as a promise to God, a binding statement of your commitment. Picture the results of this commitment as you sing it with gusto. Then, after the song has ended, apply it with the same gusto.

God not only loves a cheerful giver, He honors a sincere singer.

This Sunday put yourself into the lyrics of each hymn, considering them your own personal credo. See what a difference it makes.

Excerpted from Day by Day with Charles Swindoll, Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (Thomas Nelson Publishers). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

The Arrogance of Legalism

Posted by Troy Friesen

Oct 1, 2009

In C.J. Mahaney's book "The Cross Centered Life - Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing" there's a whole chapter on breaking the rules of legalism. He says the implications of legalism are staggering in their arrogance.

"Legalism claims that the death of Jesus on the cross was either unnecessary or insufficient. It essentially says to God 'Your plan didn't work. The cross wasn't enough and I need to add my good works to it to be saved.' "

Thank God for His saving work found solely & wholly in the cross! If my salvation were even partially dependent on what I could contribute there is no way I could accomplish it!!

Paul tells us the same thing in Galations 5:2-4:

Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. (ESV) (emphasis mine)

The 12 verses of "Crown Him with Many Crowns"

Posted by Troy Friesen

Sep 16, 2009

Our church has been focusing on the hymn "Crown Him with Many Crowns" for the month of September. There is some interesting background connected to this hymn, including how there got to be 12 verses.

The song was originally penned in 1851 by Matthew Bridges (1800-1894), a former Anglican turned Catholic. Bridges wrote six stanzas, based upon Revelations 19:12, “...and on His head were many crowns.”

Godfrey Thring (1823-1903) was a devout Anglican clergyman who was concerned that this popular hymn was allowing Catholic theology to be sung by protestant congregations. And so he wrote six new verses.

The 12 stanzas have been mixed and matched down through the years. Interestingly, of the six verses most commonly appearing in hymnals today, three were written by Bridges and three by Thring.

Crown Him with Many Crowns — Bridges (1851):

Crown Him with many crowns,
The Lamb upon His throne;
Hark! how the heavenly anthems drowns
All music but its own:
Awake, my soul, and sing
Of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King
Through all eternity.

Crown Him the Virgin’s Son!
The God Incarnate born,—
Whose arm those crimson trophies won
Which now His brow adorn!
Fruit of the mystic Rose
As of that Rose the Stem:
The Root, whence mercy ever flows,—
The Babe of Bethlehem!

Crown Him the Lord of peace!
Whose power a scepter sways,
From pole to pole,—that wars may cease,
Absorbed in prayer and praise:
His reign shall know no end,
And round His pierced feet
Fair flowers of paradise extend
Their fragrance ever sweet.

Crown Him the Lord of love!
Behold His hands and side,—
Rich wounds, yet visible above,
In beauty glorified:
No angel in the sky
Can fully bear that sight,
But downward bends his burning eye
At mysteries so bright!

Crown Him the Lord of years!
The Potentate of time,—
Creator of the rolling spheres,
Ineffably sublime!
Glassed in a sea of light,
Where everlasting waves
Reflect His throne,—the Infinite!
Who lives,—and loves—and saves.

Crown Him the Lord of heaven!
One with the Father known,—
And the blest Spirit, through Him given
From yonder triune throne!
All hail! Redeemer,—Hail!
For Thou hast died for me;
Thy praise shall never, never fail
Throughout eternity!

Crown Him with Many Crowns — Thring (1874):

Crown Him with crowns of gold,
All nations great and small,
Crown Him, ye martyred saints of old,
The Lamb once slain for all;
The Lamb once slain for them
Who bring their praises now,
As jewels for the diadem
That girds His sacred brow.

Crown Him the Son of God
Before the worlds began,
And ye, who tread where He hath trod,
Crown Him the Son of man;
Who every grief hath known
That wrings the human breast,
And takes and bears them for His own,
That all in Him may rest.

Crown Him the Lord of light,
Who o’er a darkened world
In robes of glory infinite
His fiery flag unfurled.
And bore it raised on high,
In heaven-in earth-beneath,
To all the sign of victory
O’er Satan, sin, and death.

Crown Him the Lord of life
Who triumphed o’er the grave,
And rose victorious in the strife
For those He came to save;
His glories now we sing
Who died, and rose on high.
Who died, eternal life to bring
And lives that death may die.

Crown Him of lords the Lord,
Who over all doth reign
Who once on earth, the incarnate Word,
For ransomed sinners slain,
Now lives in realms of light,
Where saints with angels sing
Their songs before Him day and night,
Their God, Redeemer, King.

Crown Him the Lord of heaven,
Enthroned in worlds above;
Crown Him the King, to whom is given
The wondrous name of Love,
Crown Him with many crowns,
As thrones before Him fall.
Crown Him, ye kings, with many crowns,
For He is King of all.

Pursuit of Biblical Worship

Posted by Troy Friesen

Jun 12, 2009

I read 2 things today that struck me as important elements to remember when pursuing Biblical worship.

• My generation isn't the first to think about and pursue Biblical worship. In other words, there is great value in studying and using resources (hymns, sermons, discourses, etc.) from those who have gone before us. We aren't starting our pursuit in an historical vacuum (Heb. 12:1, 22-24), so let's learn & grow from those who have gone before us.
  
  
• "When it comes to forms of worship, any form that facilitates and encourages worship in spirit and truth by a particular gathering of people, at a particular time in history, in the context of a particular culture is pleasing to God. That implies that no one form can fully express the vastness of God. No given time, culture, or generation can give God the honor He deserves." (from Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin)